Sophie Olsen

Survivor of Re-Creation Retreat

“I was there for about a year and a half. I was adopted and learned what it was like to be the scapegoat. My parents had their own child and adopted me after a few failed attempts. I could feel the love was not the same as the one they provided their own child with. I was there but didn’t feel welcome and one night was abruptly woken up by a large male and a female in the middle of the night. I had a t-shirt and underwear on when they arrived but was allowed to get dressed and was transported from Texas to Arizona. I was made to participate in a strip search, cough and squat upon arrival. They took a majority of my stuff, and I was stripped of my former identity. I was there from august ‘of 21, went on a home visit from July till august of ’22, and left February of ’23

I remember having the occasional fun with peers would prevent me from phasing up. It wasn’t until October that I made it to phase 2. On phase 2 you could wear your own shirts if you had them. Phase one, you had to wear the neon orange or yellow that was given, all your other shirts were confiscated until you phased up. This appeared to help keep the new girls visible and made it harder to fathom running.

I remember going to therapy with ████. I was crying and telling him about another staff member █████████. I told him how he made me feel unsafe but my therapist ████ would tell me that it was all in my head. Other girls started to address similar concerns, and he was fired roughly 3 months after I left. ████, during my therapy would share about the girls who’ve killed themselves after R.C.R. and the story of ███████and how he offered a peer a fork to harm herself. I think staff need to take self-harm more seriously. We’d tell them about girls who were self-harming, and some staff would say let them. I remember ████ would boast about the fork story quite a bit and would yell at me in therapy. ████ would tell me how I’m f*d up and did it to myself. It was very hostile and unbearable. I was tired and often hungry, though I was fatter due to the empty calories and carbs they fed us. I couldn’t move very much, and my mentality felt far gone. I would write down lyrics to songs I could remember. It was a way to dissociate and escape. 

Some staff like ███████ and ██████ were monotone. I remember my therapist had compared Diamond Ranch Academy to our residential. He showed me the equine therapy diamond ranch video, and said that they were basically us but bigger and co-ed. He then asked me to make an equine video like theirs, he said that it was the inspiration, that they were similar in principles and rules and what they’re about. I wasn’t able to complete the request as the software wasn’t working before, I left.

Some of the girls and I saw staff member █████████ staring at girls. I remember another staff ██████ had asked all the girls about it so we shared our stories and then were told we weren’t believed that we were liars trying to ruin his life and put us on silence for a week. 

Not all the staff were bad. I remember the majority liked ██████, a staff we were close to in 2021. I remember we did the Tony Robbins: Date with Destiny thing for like a week which is very high energy. There was a night when ██████ went home, got into a car accident and died. ███████ gave us 30 minutes to cry about it, and then we were expected to go right back into the workshop like nothing happened, we weren’t allowed to mourn, and I recall some girls got into panic attacks over it.

Also, equine therapy felt like a joke that occurred like once every 2 weeks for an hour and a half. Very few peers were even allowed to make physical contact with the horse, and most were to stand behind the pin or feel the horse with our energy as they’d say.

 I remember too, one of my roommates who was very reactive, didn’t want ████ or ███████ to have power. There was a lot of head banging and self-harm which she was given a consequence for and stormed out. She had walked on the track but then was restrained. There were rocks in her knees and ████ brought her to the seminar room, and allegedly made her lay on her stomach, arms out, laying there for hours. She wasn’t allowed to talk or use the restroom and staff allegedly let her know they were only giving her food due to her medication’s requirements.

I recall one of the girls, who was 16 at the time, telling me about how a staff █████ looked at her Instagram after she had asked him to and verbalized that he had wished they met under different circumstances. He wasn’t there for more than roughly 6 months and was ultimately fired.

Theres this one girl █████ who struggled pretty badly with emotional regulation. Respectfully, you’d think it’s a toddler having a tantrum. And one time she was freaking out and it was valid, but they took her outside on the dirt, her wrist was harmed on her right hand and was hardly moved or used for 3 solid days and there was rocks and dirt in between her hands and knees too. She was kicked out shortly after.

Another time we were playing kickball and there was this new girl who was on peer mentorship. They were goofing off and they came running into me on accident, however, I messed up my ankle and had ice but wasn’t taken to the doctors. I got shin splints on my good leg because I wasn’t getting treated and ran a 10k with shin splints which I signed up for, as it was one of the few ways to get off of campus.

There was this therapist there named █████. We visited her and her husband’s property to participate in equine therapy. One of the girls while riding on top of her horse was bucked and injured. She fell off and got covered in mud, so they allowed her inside their residency to change.

There are other times where we went to ██████ property. There we would tend to his family’s animals and greenhouses and land.

I remember being motivated to get my G.E.D. so they couldn’t keep me, and I did. While I was there, I recall being super sick. I was sneezing, coughing, nauseous, headaches, etc. That day I had a phone call so I shared with my mom how I was feeling, she asked me if I got tested, I said I don’t know I can ask. She continued and asked how I got sick, and I told her it was maybe the 2 sick staff. I told her that it could maybe be covid but then one of the sick staff came up to me and verbalized it was the flu, so I correct myself and say it’s the flu and my mom tells me to let her know if I need to get tested but I was ultimately yelled at by staff and never brought it up again.

Three days before my home visit I had borrowed mascara from someone else. When questioned by staff about it we lied and said we didn’t. Two days before my home visit I got a sharing, lying, and manipulation, all essays, because the girl who shared mascara with me decided to tell ██████ so then I went to bed crying and the next day I was pulled by ██████ where he told me that my parents agreed I shouldn’t go on my home visit and had to wait a whole other month.

I had violated many rules on the “Home Contract”. Some of the rules consisted of; not seeing friends made before the program, not being home alone, no driving, no dying your hair, and so on. The rules changed based on the set of parents and their expectations. When I was home I told my mom about the extended restraints, unusual punishments and rules, and how I’d spoken up about a staff being off-putting but how we were silenced and called liars. She then contacted ████ and she was recommended to send me back. So yet again I was woken up in the middle of the night by a very large men and a woman and transported back and put on phase 1 yet again. I was so depressed I couldn’t get up in the morning. My roomies were trying to help but I didn’t get up so ██████ and █████████ dragged me off my top bunk and restrained me for laying in my bed longer than scheduled. I said please let me go but they wouldn’t. I wasn’t even a threat; I felt like a rock. That day was supposed to be culture day, but I was told it was my fault and another’s for misbehaving and that the girls would not be participating in the activity as a result.

Many times, we had hot cereal for breakfast. I am a vegetarian and one time we were fed a salad with ham in it, and instead of changing it they told us to pick out the pieces of ham.

Basically, me and my best friend ███ kept each other together. We were phased down, on leadership, and so on together. We were on chores for weeks on weeks, and so █████ would correct us on the tiniest things. Telling us where to put things in the fridge and freezer. That our chores were not done well enough or was unsatisfactory. Even if we didn’t get the consequence we were still criticized frequently. One time when on kitchen crew, we had a different staff █████ supervising. We ended up not knowing which oats to use and ultimately used the wrong ones and were punished by █████ even though the supervising staff was unaware as well.

About a week after my restraint, we ultimately did have culture day. Though I had a sinus infection and not allowed shoes or sandals. The campus was covered in goat heads, and we were expected to walk around and dig in a 3–4-foot pile of mulch for clues, in order to get a bag of candy. I verbalized that I could not dig in mulch barefoot. Once we got back inside ██████ called up every table but didn’t give me candy because I didn’t dig. Remind you, I also didn’t have shoes, so I told the people at my table about it and all the girls chipped in to give me some. It was kept under the radar, and no one told.

I remember once, this same staff ██████ made an announcement. I need to talk to you girls and continued, if there’s any kind of protest you will be restarted. We had put on orange shirts because a girls parents just took away her clothes while on phase 2 but we were forced to change outfits and told we were not allowed. 

No child should be exploited—whether through forced labor or the abuse within the troubled teen industry. I will continue to fight until every child is protected, every survivor is heard, and those responsible are held accountable. Change is coming, and we won’t stop until justice is served.”

-Sophie Olsen

Instagram: sophieeolsen (sophie)

disclaimer

The survivor stories shared on this blog are personal accounts and reflect the experiences and opinions of the individuals who have chosen to share them. While we strive for accuracy, these narratives are based on personal recollections and may include subjective perspectives.

Names and identifying details may have been changed or redacted to protect privacy and safety. The content provided is for informational and awareness purposes only and is not intended as legal or professional advice.

Past Peers Protection Project does not make any representations regarding the accuracy of third-party claims. If you believe any information is inaccurate or wish to report concerns, please contact us at pastpeers2024@gmail.com.

If you are a survivor seeking support, we encourage you to reach out to trusted professionals or advocacy organizations for guidance and assistance.